Monster Jam Showdown, what is there to say? I am willing to bet most of us have stumbled onto the show on TV before. Maybe we just left it on and watched their antics for a bit from time to time. It is one of the ultimate guilty pleasures alongside Melrose Place in the 90s. Whether we are fans or not, I think we know what the brand is and what it entails. Yes, Monster Trucks! A travelling circus where these beasts and their drivers perform tricks, race and basically put on a helluva show.

I must admit I left my adoration and interest in Monster Trucks behind many (many) moons ago. But I won’t deny that there is something special about this particular form of motorsport – and yes I will classify it as such – despite it falling more into the sports entertainment side of competition. For me the trucks were the characters, Big Foot, Gravedigger, Snakebite and more – most are long gone but replaced by a full roster of equally personable trucks and storylines to back them up.

However, licensed games are a risk, Monster Jam is no Formula 1 – have the developers phoned this one in? Or have they delivered the high-quality title the fans deserve?

Monster Jam Showdown is content-rich; at launch, it features 40 unique trucks from the current fleet as well as historic vehicles and toys with another 26 on the way via free and premium DLC, not to mention 140+ liveries. It features three unique environments outside of stadiums and 10 game modes which include official competitions as well as original events.

In relation to real-world events, although Monster Jam doesn’t travel over our way that often, they still routinely sell out Baseball Stadiums, Speedways and Football Fields in the USA packing tens of thousands of fans in for the show. These sorts of events are all present here including head-to-head races and freestyle. Freestyle is basically the truck drivers doing tricks, if you have seen the TV or Arena show and watched a Monster Truck do a backflip you get the idea.

I adore the head-to-head stadium racing format in Monster Truck Showdown because it dates all the way back to the 1980’s. This style of racing gives the crowd a chance to cheer for their favourite truck and driver. The races will be over in less than 30 seconds but there is something to be said for hoping your favourite character comes out on top at the end of the evening and takes home a championship. Back in the day though they also had towing and mud competitions… maybe next time, eh?

Aside from the kinds of events that you might see on TV or if you went to a stadium show though, in Monster Truck Showdown you get to take your favourite truck out into the wild. Yes, unleash these beasts in crazy races across unique environments such as the barren wasteland of Death Valley, the stunning forests and crystal rivers of Colorado and the frozen surfaces, peaks, lakes and fjords of Alaska.

The presentation of Monster Jam Showdown is admirable. This would have been a title easy to phone in and ship out as another typical licensed game without much care put into it; surprisingly, that isn’t the case here. Milestone have unleashed the full fury of Unreal 5 on the world of Monster Jam. What this means is not just incredibly detailed trucks but frequently stunning environments.

In some races, the weather effects are definitely turned up to 11, racing through sandstorms and blizzards so furious you won’t know whether you are Arthur or Martha in a course where there are multiple routes. When the weather is clear, you can admire the details of the mountain peaks in the distance and the details of the environment around you. The handling of the trucks has also been tightened up since my last ride which was Monster Jam Steel Titans 2, the trucks now feel more planted and less prone to rolling over in tight corners. There are also a bunch of handy accessibility options to help you get around if need be.

In Monster Jam Showdown, there are a bunch of different kinds of races to do in the wild different variations of circuit races with different goals. It also features figure 8 tracks which is always a blast and also some extreme head-to-head challenges as well, which are basically the stadium race rules but set in more extreme environments in the wild with more extreme courses and bigger jumps. I would have loved this back in the day. Unfortunately the ‘campaign’ does feel a bit aimless,  random events are being unlocked and they do not flow into each other. I actually started to miss the open worlds of Steel Titans 2.

That said, a lot of the game needs to be unlocked by play time. Things like courses and areas make sense to progressively collect. But pretty much all of the trucks are locked as well. So when you start the game you have to choose between only three. Remembering this is a competitive sport with a legion of fans, it feels like the equivalent of buying an NBA game and having to work to unlock your favourite team. I understand they’re aiming for more longevity, but this isn’t Gran Turismo – F1 games don’t lock out teams and cars so I don’t think we should have done this here either.